Every department's kit, on one register the bursar trusts.
For school business managers, network managers and heads of department who lend iPads, cameras, instruments and tools to pupils and staff, and need one honest list of what the school owns.
| Item | Location | Qty | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violin 3/4, Stentor Student II IT-001201 | Music | 1 | Freya L. (7B) · due 18 Jul |
| iPad cart 2 (30 iPads) IT-001210 | IT / iPad cart 2 | 1 | Ms Akande · due 12:20 |
| Canon EOS 250D kit IT-001222 | Media | 1 | Overdue · 4 days |
| Coping saw IT-001230 | Design and technology / Workshop tools | 24 pcs | In stock |
| Casio fx-83GTX calculator set (32) IT-001245 | Maths office | 1 | Available |
Sound familiar?
Media has a sign-out sheet, DT has a whiteboard, music lends violins on a paper card, and IT has a spreadsheet for the iPad carts. When the bursar asks for the asset register, someone spends a week walking rooms. At the end of the summer term nobody can say which pupils still have an instrument, a camera or a calculator.
Lend in term, account for it in July.
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Each department runs its own room
Each department is a folder, and its staff get a room key: the DT technician sees DT, the head of music sees the instrument store. Each one's register, counts and reminders end at their room.
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Pupils borrow without an account
A pupil takes a violin home for the year or a camera for a weekend project. Staff scan it, pick the pupil, set the due date. The receipt and reminders go to the email you choose, a parent's if you prefer, with a My things link.
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Carts and classroom sets
The iPad cart and the Year 9 calculator set go to a teacher for a lesson as kits, and come back with one scan. The return check asks what came back damaged, and each iPad keeps its own history.
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End of term, in one report
Custody by person lists every pupil and member of staff still holding something. A possession check asks each holder to confirm, and you chase only the gaps before they leave for summer.
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The asset register
The inventory report prints every item with photo, serial, value and depreciation, subtotalled per department, for the bursar, the auditor and the insurer.
Pupils return from a link.
Every receipt and reminder carries the pupil's own My things link: what they hold, when it's due, I've returned it and Extend. No account. A return from the link waits on Today until a member of staff confirms it.
Booked by someone else after you, so it can’t be extended.
Only you can see this page. Your code is P-0092.
How it looks in ItemTally.
Folders are the real places schools keep things. Every take, return, count and move becomes a dated line with a name on it, and lines are never edited.
Your workspace
- IT
- iPad cart 1
- iPad cart 2
- Loaner shelf
- MediaCameras, tripods, audio
- Design and technology
- Workshop tools
- Materials storePly, acrylic, filament
- MusicInstruments on loan to pupils
- DramaCostume and props
- PE kit room
Data protection, in the terms your DPO uses
Lending kit to pupils means keeping pupils’ names, so your data protection officer will want answers before anyone prints a label. Here they are.
- Roles. The school is the controller of the register. Ethereal Labs AB, the Swedish company behind ItemTally, is the processor: we hold the data to run the service and use it for nothing else.
- What’s held about a pupil. A name, a year group if you put it in the name, and an email only if you add one. Many schools use a parent’s address, or none at all and hand things over at the counter. Pupils never get an account; their My things link shows what they hold and lets them return it.
- Where it lives. The register database is hosted in the EU with Hetzner. Photos and signatures are stored in Cloudflare R2, and emails go through Resend. Cloudflare and Resend are US companies, and the EU page says what each one sees.
- Who can see it. Room keys keep each department to its own folder, so the music department sees instrument loans and nothing else. Staff can sign in with your Google Workspace or Microsoft Entra account through single sign-on.
- Leavers and deletion. At the end of the year, archive the pupils who have left once their kit is back. Their names stay in the logbook as history until you close the workspace or ask us to remove them.
- Getting it out. A ZIP of plain CSV files, on every plan, any day.
The EU page has the full procurement checklist with answers you can copy into your form.
What does the work across a school.
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Equipment checkout
Pupils and staff on a name with a due date and reminders. Pupils need no account; their receipt is their return link.
How it works → -
Reports
Custody by person for the end of term, and the inventory report with values and depreciation for the asset register.
See reports → -
QR asset tracking
Label day with Avery sheets on the office printer. Each department labels its own room in an hour.
How it works → -
Self-service and kiosk
A kiosk in the library or the media room where sixth formers take and return themselves, with approval on the expensive shelf.
How it works →
No MIS, timetable or device management. ItemTally doesn't sync with your MIS, book rooms on the timetable or manage devices like an MDM does. It's the register of what the school owns and who has it. Fines and charges for lost items stay in your own process. What we will and won't build.
The questions schools ask.
Data protection. Where are pupils' names stored?
The register, pupils' names included, is hosted in the EU. ItemTally keeps a name and, if you add one, an email per borrower, nothing else about pupils. Reminder emails go through Resend, a US provider; the EU page lists every sub-processor.
Pupils can't have another account.
They don't get one. Staff hand things over, and the pupil's My things link works without signing in.
There's no budget line for this.
Shelf is free forever with unlimited items for one editor and ten borrowers. Stockroom is €19 a month for five staff editors and fifty pupils who take things themselves. Warehouse is €49 a month for the whole school. Pupils who only receive things from staff never count.
What is the best way to track school equipment?
One register with a label on everything that leaves a room, each loan on a named person with a due date, and an end-of-term report of who still has what. Keep a separate list per department only if departments never lend to each other.
Can each department manage its own equipment?
Yes. Give each head of department a room key to their department's folder. They see, lend and count only their own kit, while the business manager sees the whole school.
Can we use it for music instrument loans?
Yes. Each instrument is an item with its serial and value, lent to a pupil for the year with a due date at the end of the summer term. The parent's email gets the receipt and reminders.
Does it work as a school asset register?
The inventory report lists every item with photo, serial, value and folder subtotals, and items can carry purchase price, date and a straight-line depreciated value. It's a register of physical assets; your finance system stays the book of record.
Is ItemTally GDPR-friendly for schools?
The school is the controller and Ethereal Labs AB, a Swedish company, is the processor. The register is hosted in the EU, pupils need no account, and every sub-processor is named on the EU page, ready for your data-protection checklist.
How do we get everything back at the end of the year?
Print custody by person for the year group that's leaving and send a possession check. Each holder confirms or disputes from their phone, so only real gaps need chasing.
Start with one department this week.
Free forever for one editor and ten borrowers. No card.
Free for one editor and ten borrowers, with unlimited items. No card needed.